Fall of the Mutants
However, once it begins snowing (in the middle of summer) and cavemen, demons, and other strange creatures begin appearing, the two teams realize something serious is going on, and decide to put aside their differences for the moment. Meanwhile, Storm and Forge (whom she'd gone to see) both find themselves in a beautiful, pristine other-worldly dimension. Time passed differently here, so they spend a year together, while only a few moments pass on earth. There, they find love again, and Forge finds a way to use his bionic arm and leg to restore Storm's lost powers and get them both back to Dallas. Back on Earth, the X-Men and Freedom Force begin to unravel the truth behind the strange events around them. It turns out that during his stint in the Vietnam War, Forge had used his shaman powers to summon a demon to avenge his fallen comrades. However, in his naiveté, he didn't realize that the spell required the souls of his nine comrades, and unleashed a horde of demons he had no way to control, including the Adversary, the creature responsible for the chaos they now found themselves in. As Storm and Forge join the battle, it quickly becomes apparent that the Adversary cannot be defeated, and the only way to be rid of him is for Forge to cast the same spell and seal him away forever. So, with millions watching on TV, Forge casts the spell, using the souls of the X-Men to fuel it. However, the goddess Roma, who'd also become embroiled in the day's events, takes pity on the X-Men for their noble sacrifice and returns them all to life, additionally commenting to them as foul and evil as the Adversary is, he should not and cannot be locked away forever, since from the chaos he creates, positive change and growth occurs. However he was bound for an age, which Roma decreed was sufficient punishment for his crime. She had additionally made the X-Men invisible to all forms of surveillance save plain sight, thus allowing them to continue on with their operations while the world assumes they are dead. Before they head to Australia to establish a new base, she gives them the Siege Perilous, telling them they could use it to 'reset' time should they be discovered. X-Factor The story begins with the team being transported to the airship of the villain Apocalypse. He offers to let them join him in his war against humans (with the purpose of spurring evolutionary growth) which they, of course, refuse. He has his henchmen (named after the biblical Four Horsemen of Apocalypse) attack them and, after a pitched battle, the horseman Death reveals himself to be their former comrade Angel, now transformed into Archangel. He quickly defeats the team and they are restrained, save for Caliban, who surrenders himself to Apocalypse in return for powers like Archangel's. Apocalypse then unleashes his Horsemen on New York City and tries to force the heroes to watch. They are able to break free of their restraints, though, and attempt to stop the Horseman. In the process, they accidentally cause Apocalypse's airship to lose control, damaging several skyscrapers as it loses altitude. The superhero team Power Pack helps limit the damage, destroying part of the airship's engine cowling just before the cowling would have impacted the Statue of Liberty. As the team battles the Horsemen, Iceman comes up with an idea to stop Archangel, and quickly creates a statue of himself out of ice. Archangel attacks and breaks the statue and, thinking it is actually Iceman, is overcome with guilt and switches sides. Apocalypse easily repels his attacks, but decides to make a tactical withdrawal anyway. After he leaves, the team quickly attempts to regain control of Apocalypse's airship, eventually bringing it to land on top of their headquarters, crushing it. The New Mutants As the story opens, the team heads off to visit their friend Bird-Brain on his remote island. There, they quickly discover that Bird-Brain's creator, the Ani-Mator, is creating more semi-sentient creatures (the Ani-Mates), which he mistreats and experiments on. As the team attempts to free them, The Right tracks them down and attacks them. During the three-pronged battle, Cypher is shot and killed, taking a bullet meant for Wolfsbane. Eventually, Bird-Brain defeats the Ani-Mator and becomes king of the Ani-Mates, and Magik teleports The Right's soldiers, along with the Ani-Mator himself, to Limbo. They then return home, where Magneto blames humanity for Cypher's death. Disgusted, the team quits his tutelage, while deciding to stay dedicated to Charles Xavier's dream of peace. | ImagePart1 = Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 225.jpg | NamePart1 = False Dawn | Synopsis1 = *Colossus is seen creating a sculpture and is then read his "future" by Roma. *The Adversary attacks. *The X-Men arrive in Dallas to find Storm and abnormal things begin to occur. *Freedom Force arrives to arrest the X-Men and begin to fight them as they resist. | ImagePart2 = Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 226.jpg | NamePart2 = Go Tell the Spartans | Synopsis2 = *Reality is turned upside-down and suddenly the X-Men are fighting various beings. *Forge devises a spell and defeats the Adversary. *The X-Men are thought to be destroyed in the battle. | ImagePart3 = Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 227.jpg | NamePart3 = The Belly of the Beast | Synopsis3 = *The X-Men are transported to Australia and the world thinks them dead. *Roma gives the X-Men the Siege Perilous to reset their realities if they are discovered as still being alive. | ImagePart4 = Xfactor 24.JPG | NamePart4 = Masks | Synopsis4 = *X-Factor is taken to Apocalypse's ship and offered to join him in the upcoming war against the humans. *The Four Horsemen attack and it is revealed that one of them is their former team member, Angel, and has been renamed "Archangel" and used as Apocalypse's "Horsemen of Death". *The team is defeated and captured by Apocalypse. *Caliban asks Apocalypse to give him powers like Archangel. | ImagePart5 = X-Factor Vol 1 25.jpg | NamePart5 = Judgment Day! | Synopsis5 = *Apocalypse attacks the humans in New York. *X-Factor manages to escape and begins battling the Four Horsemen as they continue terrorizing the city. *The Statue of Liberty is nearly destroyed by Apocalypse's ship. *X-Factor tricks Archangel into thinking he killed Iceman and he switches sides when he feels guilty. *The ship is crashed into the X-Factor headquarters. *Apocalypse disappears with Caliban rather than fight. | ImagePart6 = X-Factor Vol 1 26.jpg | NamePart6 = Casualties | Synopsis6 = *X-Factor begins cleaning up after the battle. *X-Factor sees the X-Men's battle in Dallas on a television and Madelyne says goodbye to Cyclops. *Jean takes the chance to kiss Cyclops since he is heartbroken. *X-Factor claims the ship as their new headquarters. | ImagePart7 = New Mutants Vol 1 59.jpg | NamePart7 = Fang and Claw! | Synopsis7 = *The New Mutants follow Bird-Brain to his remote island. *The Ani-Mator is shown to be genetically-combining animals species ("Ani-Mates"). *The New Mutants try to rescue the Ani-Mates and are captured by the Ani-Mator. | ImagePart8 = New Mutants Vol 1 60.jpg | NamePart8 = Suspended Ani-Mation! | Synopsis8 = *The Right arrives on the island. *A battle ensues between the New Mutants and the Right. *Cypher is killed while blocking a bullet from hitting Wolfsbane. *The Right is defeated. | ImagePart9 = New Mutants Vol 1 61.jpg | NamePart9 = Our Way! | Synopsis9 = *Bird-Brain is made king of the Ani-Mates. *Magik takes the Right and Ani-Mator to Limbo. *The New Mutants return to the mansion. *Magneto leaves the team as its leader. | Notes = | Trivia = *One of the more interesting aspects of this crossover was a method Marvel used to advertise it. Marvel printed small cards, which came bound into a number of their titles (and which could also be requested at various comic book stores), asking "Do You Know What Your Child Is?" The card further suggested anyone who knew themselves to be a mutant should fill out the card, and mail it in to register themselves. *The computer game X-Men II: The Fall of the Mutants was based on this storyline. | Links = *Fall of the Mutants --A guide to the crossover by Mike Phillips. }} Category:X-Men Events